Richard at Caravana de recuerdos had a post last week on Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann. I’ve mentioned I’m listening to the audio version of William Gaddis’ JR and as luck would have it I heard a brief mention of the story the same day I read the review. I love coincidences like that, with […]
Author: Dwight
Given how things are going right now I need to remind myself, per Steven Riddle, William Michaelian and other wonderful book bloggers…I need to remind myself to take time out to enjoy and appreciate the wonders around me. This includes the pleasures from books… Because when I read, I don’t really read; I pop a […]
There are so many wonderful things to say about John Williams’ Augustus and the few online reviews I’ve skimmed do a good job of going into detail about many of its strengths. In this post I want to highlight a few aspects of the book I found enjoyable. The novel is full of tensions and […]
In which I continue to use my blog as a personal notebook… A link to an outstanding article on and review of George F. Kennan: An American Life by John Lewis Gaddis. His fluency in German and Russian, as well as his knowledge of those countries’ histories and literary traditions, combined with a commanding, if […]
I started reading John Williams’ Augustus this week and promptly ran into a problem—finding a particular section in an epistolary novel told from many sources could take quite a while. Since there was no index I thought I would create my own and share it here. (Any misspellings are due to a chronic lack of […]
I participated in the Reading Odyssey‘s reading of Arrian’s The Campaigns of Alexander this year and wanted to gather all the conference calls in one place. Reading Odyssey “is a partnership between scholars and readers” aiming “to reignite curiosity and lifelong learning.” I enjoyed participating in this program and highly recommend future programs. The listed […]
November is proving it will be a rather rough month so I’m going to take a break from any scheduled posts. Lots of forthcoming news that will interest no one else, but nothing I can share yet. Hopefully I’ll still find time to read and make the occasional post this month, although I’ve only read […]
The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander Edited by James Romm, Series Editor Robert B. Strassler, Translation by Pamela Mensch, Introduction by Paul CartledgeIf you haven’t noticed by now, I am a huge fan of the Landmark series, created by Robert B. Strassler. If you haven’t picked up a volume in the series, check out […]
Though I have myself had occasion to find fault with some of Alexander’s deeds in the course of my history of them, I am not ashamed to admire Alexander himself. If I have condemned certain acts of his, I did so out of my own regard for truth and also for the benefit of mankind. […]
Anyone who reproaches Alexander should not simply cite those deeds that deserve to be reproached. Instead, after collecting in one place all of Alexander’s qualities, let his critic then consider who he is and what sort of fortune he has had that he reproaches Alexander, a man who became so great and attained such a […]